Exercise of the Week: Plyo Push Up w/Hands Staggered

This is one of many variations of a plyometric push up.  Start by staggering your hands so one hand is a few inches out in front and the other is a few inches behind your normal hand placement.  Descend towards the floor and rapidly extend up while trying to throw yourself as as high as possible while switching the staggered hand position in mid air.  Repeat for for a total of 4-6 reps.

I like using plyo push ups to really fire up the nervous system prior to some upper body training.  One day I'll use some medicine ball throws.  The next day I'll use a plyo push up.

Accelerated Transformation Tip #10: Get Compliant

Up to this point you’ve been given a number of strategies to aid with your transformation. All of these strategies are designed to work successfully for you. But they will not work successfully if your are not compliant with these strategies. Fifty percent compliance is not going to get it done. And 70% percent compliance may not get it done either. What you should be aiming for is 80-90% compliance with each of these strategies.

How do you know if you are being compliant 80-90% of the time? It’s time to start tracking each meal or snack. Meals and snacks that are compliant adhere to the following rules:

1. There is a source of protein.
2. There is a fruit or vegetable source.
3. There are no starchy carbs unless it’s at breakfast or post-workout.
4. There are no calorie containing beverages.

Let’s say you have eaten five times over the course of a given day. You are shooting to be compliant at least four of those times. On the bigger picture, let’s say you have had 40 meals or snacks over the course of a week. You should be aiming to hit on 32 of those to be at 80% of compliance. The fewer the misses, the better the results.

Exercise of the Week: Forward Lunge w/Band Dislocation

This week's exercise is one I saw performed by strength coach Ben Bruno awhile back. It's a great bang for your buck mobility exercise to use as part of your dynamic warm up.

Accelerated Transformation Tip #9: Cycle Your Carbs

You can make carb cycling as hard as you want or you can dumb it down and make it as easy as you want. I’m going to give you the dumbed down version. It's as simple as this: Consume a higher amount of carbs on training days and consume a lower amount of carbs on non-training days.

On a training day you can allow yourself a higher intake of carbs with those carbs coming at breakfast and during the post-workout window (1-2 hours post-workout). It's a day where you can allow yourself some starchy carbs and more fruit than usual. If carbs are up on these days try to keep fat intake down and protein intake up.

On non-training days try to limit your intake of carbs from starches. Your primary sources of carbs on these days are fruits and vegetables. Your fruit intake should be a little lower than that of a training day. Protein intake should be maintained on this day and you can allow yourself a higher fat intake.

Dr. Jon Berardi sums up this strategy nicely when he says, "Your carbs have to be earned"

Exercise of the Week: Single Arm DB Bench Press

Accelerated Transformation Tip #8: Fiber Up

A number of studies show that diets consisting of a greater amount of high fiber foods are more successful when it comes to weight loss. This is not surprising considering that a majority of fruits and vegetables are usually these high fiber foods.

Why do high fiber foods work in terms of weight loss? High fiber foods tend to leave you feeling full longer because they slow down eating, increase satiety and help manage blood sugar.

What makes up a high fiber food? A high fiber food is going to contain more than 5g of fiber per serving. Some examples are:

• Apples
• Berries
• Pears
• Beans / legumes
• Sweet potatoes
• Pumpkin
• Steel cut or whole, rolled oats
• Sprouted grain breads
• Quinoa
• Brown rice

At end of the day your fiber intake should be at least 35 grams. If not, you may want to consider a powdered fiber supplement.